Rohit Varma

Rohit Varma is an Indian-American ophthalmologist and professor of ophthalmology and preventive medicine. In 2014, he was named director of the USC Eye Institute and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology for Keck School of Medicine of USC. In March 2016, Varma was named the Interim Dean of the Keck School of Medicine and in November was named Dean.
Varma has studied eye diseases in minority populations and examined biological, genetic and lifestyle factors related to the risk of developing eye diseases, as well as their prevalence.

Varma earned his medical degree at the University of Delhi, India, and a Master's from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Union Memorial Hospital. He completed his residency at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and glaucoma fellowship at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and at the University of Southern California.

He used to be chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and associate dean for strategic planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

He spent two years at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois at Chicago, then returned to Keck School of Medicine of USC as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the USC Eye Institute. In February 2016, he was elected president of the clinical chairs of the Keck School of Medicine, succeeding John Niparko, M.D., professor and chair of the USC Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. In March 2016, Varma was named interim dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC when Carmen Puliafito resigned. Puliafito had been dean since 2007. In November 2016 Varma was named Dean.

Varma has studied eye diseases in minority populations and examined biological, genetic and lifestyle factors related to the risk of developing eye diseases.

Varma's primary research has focused on epidemiologic studies of eye disease in children and aging populations. He was the principal investigator in the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES), the African-American Eye Disease Study (AFEDS), the Chinese-American Eye Study (CHES), and the Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Diseases (MEPEDS) Study. MEPEDS is the largest study of childhood eye diseases ever undertaken in the U.S. In January 2016, the study confirmed that the incidence of childhood myopia among American children has more than doubled over the last 50 years. The findings echo a trend among adults and children in Asia, where 90 percent or more of the population have been diagnosed with myopia, up from 10 to 20 percent 60 years ago.

He has studied also changes in the optic nerve in glaucoma, and has helped develop imaging techniques that aid in the early diagnosis of glaucomatous optic nerve damage.

Varma co-wrote two ophthalmic books: "Essentials of Eye Care: The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Handbook"; and "The Optic Nerve in Glaucoma". Varma co-edited the book "Advanced Glaucoma Surgery," published by Springer International Publishing in its Essentials in Ophthalmology series.